Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones - 30 hours battery life - Over Ear style - Optimised for Alexa and the Google Assistant - with built-in mic for phone calls - Black

I'm very picky when it comes to headphones, they have to be perfect and these definitely are!! They're great for listening to music or audiobooks. The noise cancelling is spot on, absolutely no background noise and no leaking of sound. They're comfortable enough to be worn for a long time and they fit over my ears perfectly. Bluetooth couldn't be any easier to connect it found my iPhone and kindle within seconds plus you can connect 2 devices at the same time, so if I'm listening to an audiobook on my kindle I won't miss any calls as my phone can be connected as well. They came in a good quality case which is so much more practical and safer than the bags some headphones come with. The battery lasts a long time sometimes I charge them once a week but can go longer. I really love these headphones, they're comfortable, good quality and the sound is perfection. I would highly recommend these and I'll absolutely be sticking with Sony from now on

I bought these headphones after they had been gifted to my partner for Christmas and was astonished at the quality of them. They are by far the most comfortable headphones I have ever used which is something that I commonly struggle with having ear piercings. They fit perfectly around my head with a balance of security and comfort making them perfect for all of my day to day activities ranging from those 9 - 5 uni days, to my workout sessions at the gym. I also really love the colour of them and think they have a sleek design that adds a stylish touch to my day-to-day outfits. The audio quality is absolutely superb providing crystal clear playback with the additional features such as 3D audio which make listening to your favourite music sound like your there in concert, experiencing it live! The long lasting battery life makes them a great addition for using travelling or being away from the house for extended periods of time. I, personally, love the use of touch control as it makes it easy to skip/rewind songs when my hands are full as swiping the right ear cup is easier than trying to find a button/s. Furthermore, the noise cancelling abilities of these headphones are extremely good, blocking out a lot of sound which makes them perfect for using on public transport or in busy public places reducing overwhelm and overstimulation (this is a key factor when it comes to me buying headphones as I am autistic). Since buying them, I have not gone a single day without using them. I have never found a pair of headphones that provides me with such an all round experience at an affordable price. They have exceeded my expectations and would recommend these highly to anyone looking for a great pair of headphones with a balance of comfort, audio quality and noise cancelling abilities.

I upgraded to this model from the original MDR-1000X which I had for a few years. I have now had them for over a year (purchased in April 2021) and I must say that they are worth their weight in gold (ok not quite). Even now in 2022 (almost 2023 now) with the newest version (XM5) out I believe at around £250 are well worth you money. They are comfortable to wear for long periods of time and the battery will last for 20+ hours (Sony claims 30, but that depends on volume and other factors) and of course you can still use them wired if you have no battery left (battery is mainly for noise cancelling) or to get Lossless quality from Apple Music (or others, just not Spotify). The main reasons I upgraded to this was because you can now have two different Bluetooth (BT) connections at once, meaning you don't need to fiddle with settings when switching from iPhone to iPad. Noise cancellation is in my humble opinion superior to that of the Bose NC700 and the bass is punchy yet not too overpowering (some will say is too strong but I don't). The second reason is USB-C, although the XM3 also have USB-C, paired with the dual connection, these two features made me upgrade. Sony offers a bunch more options but the majority of them I find are simply gimmicks nevertheless you can try them and if you enjoy them have them on. I will keep them off though. Touch sensitive pad on the right ear cup serves as volume up/down, next/previous and play button, very nicely done. Another thing I like is that the headphones will stop playing when you take them off your [left] ear, you can also cover the right ear cup with your hand and the headphones will turn on the mics to let in audio from the outside, I just take them off when I need to talk to someone but again try it ad decide. Travelling, now this is possible the main reason you want these headphones, and they are fantastic at it. In my last flight I had a crying baby a few rows down mine and having these with me made it a much more bearable experience. Little tip hear, optimise the headphones overtime you change your environment by pressing and holding the CUSTOM button, and pair it with some white noise (20%) from your iPhone (I like rain) and you'll be in for a perfect flight. Overall these headphones would be my choice if I had to buy a new pair in 2022/2023 since the new XM5 are about £100 more and I don't believe they offer you that much improvement over the XM4s (value for money). Peace.

Had these headphones six weeks and very pleased with them. I have struggled with airpods and similar for many years as my ears are an odd shape due to rugby damage. These XM4’s fit over my ears comfortably although could be a little warm. Last week I ordered some ‘Wicked Cushion’ ear pads which are much thicker, more comfortable, and my ears not so hot. Both these and the original pads suffer from wind noise when I’m wearing sunglasses and walking around outdoors. Without sunglasses, not a problem. Sound quality is excellent for both spoken word and music. I’m still playing around with the equalizer but the various standard settings work great. I use ambient noise walking outdoors so I can hear traffic but the noise cancelling is great when switched on. I’m very much looking forward to trying them on an aeroplane in October. I charged the battery once on arrival and only once since then: definitely getting the claimed 30 hours use. I don’t think I’d cycle wearing them as even with ambient sound I’d be worried about loss of awareness. I wouldn’t sleep in them, in bed, in case I rolled over and broke them. That said, they appear well made and robust but too expensive to treat rough. Touch controls on the headphone case are not that responsive: you have to tap quite hard in exactly the right place to turn on and off, swipe up and down for volume is more responsive but not great. I switched off the ‘voice control’ because it switches off the music if you: sing along to a tune, say hello to somebody in the street, or just cough. What is handy is the pause when you remove the headphones, great in a shop or similar. I like them, I’m glad I bought them. To be honest, I craved the Airpod Max but couldn’t justify the price, even for refurbished. I’m relieved at being told by people that they are not worth the money. Four months of use now, including two, four hour flights. Still pleased with noise cancelling which worked pretty well on the plain: background noise is just a gentle murmur. Sound quality overall is excellent:I had reason to wear my airpods the other day and these Sony headphones are far superior. Wind noise, outdoors is still an issue but this could be due to my spectacles causing a small gap which lets the wind whistle through. I have completely disabled all touch controls. This is my only criticism of these headphones: the ‘on/off’ tap never worked when I needed it and, recently, I was out in the rain with my hood up and touch control was operated, at random, when my hood brushed against the headphone. Using my phone to control features is much easier. Two device pairing is a pain: if you walk away from one unit, it makes an alert tone as it unpairs and likewise when you get back in range, usually when I’m listening to something important. Overall: sound quality and comfort are great, noise cancelling is great, touch controls are rubbish. Still glad I got them

I had been eyeing this headphone for a good year because it was, as we all know it, trending for how good it was. Now that I've been using it for a good month I will give my two cents. The noise cancelation is great. At medium volume it cancels out the low hum bus engines and background chatting in cafes etc., but I can still hear cars going pass and conversations that are going on sitting next to me. If the conversation is happening in a low volume then I can't hear it at all. Obviously at hight volume, or if the room is quiet, I cannot hear anything going on outside, including vehicles and talking. For the noise cancelation reason I don't wear these at night when I am outside by myself because I can't hear anything that is going on around me; can be quite dangerous. Given that though, it has an option to disable the noise cancelation function, which I guess could work (but why use that if I would still look vulnerable with headphones in at night?). The battery life is great. I used it for 12 hours straight once and the battery went from 100% to 70%. I barely need to charge it and I feel like this battery life is lasting me ages. During the one month I've used it, I've only had to charge it twice so far. The right hand side touch functions is handy and gives the headphone a clean touch and look. I fine the touch function sensitivity to be quite dull though. I find I need to touch quite firmly for it to recognize that I touched it. On the other hand, I can lie down on my side with this and it won't pick up the useless touches/contact made as commands. The headphones itself feels sturdy. It is lightweight and doesn't press on the sides too much even with my glasses on so i can use it for hours and it won't hurt. I do prefer a fluffier/more padded earpads though; I noticed that mine are already becoming flatter. The sound quality is standard ngl. Compared to the price, and the type of sound that I like, the melody/higher pitched sounds are more powerful compared to the lower pitched part of music. I would suggest for those who like more bass boosted noise like I do this is not for you. The sound doesn't sound emmersive overall. There's an app that comes with this. You can tweak some functions on there, apparently, to suit your taste, but you have a make an account to do that. Which I am not bothered to sign up for yet, which is why I cannot say anything about that. Tbf if I did sign up etc I think I would be able to get the sound quality I want but for the price I expect things to be easier. I got this when it was on sale at around £199. Let's just say I am glad I got the headphones when it was on sale. Don't get me wrong! I still like the headphones; the quality is great and the sound quality is good too! But if you want, let's say a headphone specifically for noise cancelation then I think there are better ones out there, or if you prefer a specific sound quality or have particular sound preference then for the same price point there are better ones out there.

These Headphones are incredible for casual listeners and audiophiles alike. As an audio Engineer, it's my personal opinion these headphones have a great overall sound across the frequency spectrum. The low end frequency content (bass) is clear and has good definition. Often with headphones of this caliber you find low end creeps into the mid range frequencies which creates a really unpleasant listening experience. These headphones do NOT have this problem at all. The mid range is also great, detailed and articulate, listening to much heavier music such as rock and metal which can be problematic for many headphones, i can confidently say these headphones hold up fantastically. Lastly, the high end is crisp and detailed without being harsh to the listener. These Headphones are for people who want to start appreciating the music they listen to and become truly immersed in the art form while going about their day to day lives. The noise cancelling is great, especially on public transport which adds to the whole experience. For consumer grade headphones these are fabulous. They are also very stylish, i personally believe the XM5 and XM6 are absolutely hideous to look at. Hence why I chose the XM4 despite being a few years older. They are also EXTREMELY comfortable. Overall, im very pleased with the XM4. At its current price point compared to its performance i do believe they are very competitive in the market even with the newer models available and other brands with their new releases. I would definitely recommend these for people looking to upgrade their listening experience. If you're taking public transport, they're the greatest investment you'll ever make.

these aren't just headphones; they're a socially acceptable way to ignore people. I put them on, and it’s like the world just... stops. If you've ever wanted to delete your commute without actually skipping work, this is it. ​Why I actually like them ​The Silence is scary: The ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) is stupid good. I’m talking "I didn't hear the fire truck go by" good. It silences bus engines, office chatter, and my own existential dread. ​They don't hurt: I have a giant head, and I can wear these for 6 hours straight without feeling like my skull is being crushed. The ear pads are basically clouds. ​Multi-point is a lifesaver: Finally, I can connect to my laptop for Zoom and my phone for doom-scrolling without messing with settings every five minutes. It actually works seamlessly, which is rare. ​The stuff that drives me nuts ​"Speak-to-Chat" is the worst: It’s this "smart" feature where the music pauses if you talk. Sounds cool, right? Wrong. It activates when I clear my throat, laugh, or try to quietly hum along to a song. I turned it off in day one. ​The Name: Sony, I love you, but "WH-1000XM4" is not a name. It’s a Wi-Fi password. Just call them the "Noise Killers" or something human. ​The Mic is just okay: I can hear everyone perfectly, but apparently, I sound like I'm calling from inside a tin can during a hurricane. Don't buy these for the call quality.

It's hard to believe but these WH-1000XM4 headphones have been on sale for about five years now. There are now two models newer than this, imaginatively named the XM5 and the XM6 both of which offer improvements on this XM4 model. But these XM4s are amazing quality and at the moment about half the price of the newest XM6 model. The active noise cancelling of the XM4 headphones is very good. I often travel on the train with these and they are great at deadening the outside noise of the train (and are especially good at quietening diesel trains!). But they also significantly quieten those annoying travellers who have to share their music, loud comedy clips and telephone calls with everybody else! It keeps you sane when travelling and allows you to listen to your music or movies in great quality. I am particularly impressed with their bass capabilities which underpin a great depth and richness of sound. These headphones can be managed through Sony’s Sound Connect app which gives you quite a degree of control over the various features of the XM4s, in particular the ability to change the noise management according to the environment. The battery life of the XM4s is very good, stated in the literature at about 30 hours which seems about right to me. The call quality of these headphones is good, both in terms of the pickup from the microphone and the audibility of the caller in noisy environments. I understand that the XM5 and XM6 both have superior microphone and noise cancelling but this obviously comes at a greater cost than the XM4 which I find very much suits my needs. There are many technical explanations of the attributes and differences between these various models on the internet and it is clear from those that the latest XM6 model is technically improved in various ways. But if you are on a budget, as I was when I bought these, I think that the XM4 headphones are fantastically good value for money. I’m really pleased with them and give them top marks. If you want to get a pair, now would be a good time as it’s hard to imagine that they will be around for very much longer when there are two newer models available.